"Big Guy" came to us on the night of our 9th Wedding Anniversary! We were just settling in to watch Monday Night Football & relax when we got a phone call...a local humane society had taken in a large python from the local police and they did not have the knowledge or facilities to care for him. Well, we rushed for the EHM (emergency herp mobile, aka my husband's work van) taking along the giant dog carrier. It was a cold night in the upper thirties to low forties ~ and this big snake had been found by an elderly woman, laying on her front porch! As we drove to the animal shelter our minds were spinning with thoughts of a large, maybe huge? maybe not so friendly python ~ species unknown! They had said they thought it was an albino, but were not sure, so we figured okay Burmese Python probably. When we saw him we looked at each other and then back at this poor, utterly filthy snake who, although long, was not very round or heavy. He was tongue flicking and exploring the large tank they had found to place him in and was undoubtedly enjoying the warmth of the small light they had put on the top. Everything about this animal said "I am not nasty". Sure enough he could be picked right up and carried like a lapdog. He was colder than any snake we have ever touched. He was deep in shed and his nostrils were caked with mucous & debris. His eyes were completely occluded. After filling out the neccesary paperwork, we quickly loaded him into the warm van. When we arrived home we drew a bathtub full of semi-warm water & began to gently wash the dirt & stuck on gunk that he was covered with. He looked as though he absolutely loved it. It quickly became apparent too that he was covered with Burmese size mites ~ naturally! We hand picked many, many of them off. Over the course of the next couple of months we helped him through one very grueling shed and then a second easier one...his true beauty begining to shine through! We slowly increased his food intake and gave him daily sessions of long outings of climbing and moving about the room. He gradually gained weight and muscle tone, his skin developed a healthy sheen and he really was a happy Burm! Now the hard part: over this time that Big Guy was with us I grew very attached to him, so did Bob. He was so nice, that we used to take off the lid of his tank (and we always let him come out a bit on his own) and he would come right over to your shoulder and start helping himself out! He endured many skin treatments & 2 assisted sheds & many soaks & cage cleanings without an incidence of temper...EVER. The only problem was in the simple fact that we did not have room for an enclosure of the size that we felt was adequate for him. Fortunately we were generously offered TWO good homes for him, one was a small reptile zoo owned by a wonderful local herpetologist ~ the other a family who are close friends of ours who especially love to work with the larger species. It was a hard decision to make, but due to his really wonderful disposition we decided that he would be happiest with a family that would continue to enjoy handling him & who especially enjoy making large custom enclosures for their boas, anacondas and burms. They had always wanted an albino Burm and it was just a really happy ending! Their family is enjoying him tremendously and Big Guy even has his own swimming pool now!! We are told he loves it! We will never know where he came from...the several weeks of foster care we gave was all while waiting for "the snakes owner" to come forward ~ the shelter never received a single phone call about him. It is a scenario that is replayed countless times, no doubt, across the country. If he had not been found and had to endure one more night in the cold ~ it is most likely he would be dead or terminally sick.....one of the nicest snakes we have EVER met.....what a shame. Thankfully it did not go that way. We are grateful to all of the folks who helped us & gave us support on the forums and shared this experience with us!
YES: BURMESE PYTHONS ARE BEAUTIFUL & SWEET & COOL & CHEAP....BUT PLEASE BE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING AND BE COMMITTED TO CARE FOR IT! |
